Chapter Two - Route 116
Rustboro City, block away from East Gate

From everyone's window seat on the gigantic commercial plane, Rustboro City was in sight. The sky scrapers looked dark, tall, and ominous from here. From this bird's eye view, Rustboro looked painfully dull compared to Nimbasa. Actually, any city compared to Nimbasa was considered dull, because no one can beat out bright neon lights wrapped around the exterior of buildings and the blinking lights on mounted marquees. Once the plane landed, Daniel and Megan led the teens to the front of a hotel a block away from the east city gate. The only color to the hotel was the neon sign above the doors and pinstriped awning. Right now, the only thing on the teens' minds were that they weren't staying in the neon-red roofed pokémon center down the block.

"We're staying at a ratty hotel?" Was the first comment, escaping the mouth of none other than James, wedged between Daniel and Ashka. At the word 'ratty', Ashka held on to her Egg case tighter.

"Hey, this place was paid for by the journey executives. I'm sure it's...clean." Daniel argued for the sake of a pay raise in case anyone important was listening.

"Why can't we stay at the pokémon center?" Irene, the one nearest to the puddle beside the curb, whined. Both Gerard and Lexi, flanked at the end of their make-shift line, were wincing at Irene's constant complaining. She had been like this since the airport, hating on the drab city colors and lack of moving sidewalks.

"Just be happy you're not sleeping on the street." Ashka said coldly, annoyed at her as well. Irene's face was copying the expression of apple pie falling in mud.

"There was a reason actually." Megan said, ready to level things down. "The pokémon center has limited rooms. They need to keep those open for other travelers." She thought about it some more. "That, and none of you have your licenses. So unless you've suddenly obtained a free pass to Rustboro's pokémon center, I advise that we all check in."

Daniel held a door open for the teens to enter, Ashka being the first one to enter out of the intimidated mix. The other working doors opened automatically, to Daniel's annoyance. One act of kindness shot down.

Irene was the still standing outside when Megan went to lead the conjoined group inside. Daniel waited for her to enter with crossed arms, but she was still staring straight up to the roof at a neck-breaking angle.

"Coming inside anytime soon?" He said, foot tapping.

"Strange stacking customs..." Irene muttered. She remembered she was being watched and took a step forward, but just then a city bus passed through and zipped across the puddle behind her, splashing her with dirty grey water. "EEEW It's all over my legs!" Irene squealed in horror, holding on to the damp ends of her skirt. Seeing that she was still going to be on that curb the next hour, Daniel went and pushed her through the sliding glass doors to the lobby where everyone else was at.

"So together Daniel and I have six rooms, but there's only ten of us all together. Hey Daniel, can you help me split the kids up?" Megan called from the lounge area where everyone was seated, holding up six keycards hanging on chains with the hotel's name on it.

"Sure." He let go of Irene and took the cards. "You two," He pointed at Jun and Lucas and tossed them a key. "You two," He tossed a key at Lexi, his other hand pointing at Serena. "Gerard and the gadget master..." He threw a key at James.

"Wait," Ashka said. "Can't I have the room with Gerard?"

Everyone looked at her strangely, and Gerard's face went tomato red.

"And Irene, you're rooming with Ashka." Daniel finished, placing the key on top of Irene's head, which presumably slipped off. Ashka frowned in aggravation. "Megan and I will share a room. Any questions and concerns?"

Just about every hand went up.

"Good, no concerns." Daniel laughed and clapped his hands together as everyone groaned in unison.

Megan quickly changed the subject. "So, since we're all not departing ways until tomorrow, we're giving you the freedom to roam around town. Stick together, and don't leave town either. I don't want to stress the concerns of—"

"No no, I think they're already clear Megan," Daniel said, wagging his palm around. "They're in a different region. If they leave the town, they're on their own. They'll have to fend against wild pokémon themselves."

A few people who had thought of leaving town dropped their smirks. With a nod from their supervisors that they were able to go now, the teens dispersed. Once out of ear shot, Megan gently took the last keycard from Daniel. Confused, he opened his mouth to speak, but she shook her head.

"I'll sleep in a separate room, thank you." She said. He swears she was just teasing as she strutted out of the hotel lobby, Flygon's pokéball in hand.

The elevator stopped at their level and Gerard and Ashka exited, followed shortly by James, who distanced himself from them so it wouldn't seem that he was following them. Gerard found his and James' room and unlocked the door, letting Ashka enter first. What James had said earlier was accurate; this place was completely dark and filthy. As the duo dropped their heavy bags onto one bed, an explosion of dust occurred. James entered behind a little weary. He was sure a rattata would scurry across the room soon.

"Honestly, I rather sleep outside." Ashka sighed, sitting at the edge of the double bed and staring out the small window on the right.

Gerard nodded. "I would've been okay with our one hundred and eleventh-time camping."

She turned with a look. "You've kept count?"

"I was making up a number close to it.."

James stood awkwardly next to the empty bed next to Gerard's. He felt like he should add to the conversation, since he was here and all. But the two held a bond that he was afraid of intruding on. Yet, he was curious. Where do these two live that they can go camping that frequently? He was from Black City, where camping was impossible because of the lack of grass and trees.

"...Where are you two from?" He suddenly said, wishing he could just tape his mouth shut. He hadn't meant to open his mouth and interrupt their comfortable silence.

"White Forest." Ashka shrugged off his question. He understood now. She and Gerard were one of them, the tree huggers of White Forest. Black City and White Forest were sister townships, right across from each other. A dirt-to-fancy-walkway was between the two towns.

Gerard shoved his head out the window and looked around. He could see past the east gate. "Hey Ashka, let's go camp outside tonight."

"Won't you guy get in trouble?" James said before Ashka could answer. The two turned their heads to him, as if remembering that he was there.

Ignoring James's question, Ashka said, "Sure. But let's go after everyone's asleep, so we can ditch Daffy and Daisy." This was referring to their Rangers, Daniel and Megan.

"Cool." Gerard nodded in agreement, sealing the deal. James was panicking inwards, wondering if it was his duty to talk the two out of the idea. Weren't they afraid of the wild pokémon? Then Gerard surprised him by asking, "You want to come too, James?"

"Gerard..." Ashka was almost growling. She didn't want James to come along.

Gerard ignored her and waited for James's answer.

This is my chance, James thought, I can convince them not to go! Then maybe I'll save their lives and they'll be in my debt! I could always use more test monkeys. But when he was ready to answer, a weak, "No.." came out.

Gerard shrugged. "That's fine with me. Here, take the keys. Ashka, we should leave now while Daniel and Megan are out of sight." He said, looking down the window, where Daniel was chasing after Megan's Flygon high in the sky. Ashka nodded and detached her sleeping bag from her hiking pack.

"Cover for us if they ask, okay?" She said to James as she and Gerard left to the elevators.

James anxiously stared after the closed door, wishing that the two would turn around and forget their crazy plan. But they were as reckless as he was feeling. He took his sleeping bag and stashed the room's keycard into his pocket. He opened the door to the hallway and dashed out. "Wait guys, I'm coming with you!"

When Daniel had finally thought he caught up with Megan, he ended up losing her. He was standing in front of the pokémon center, and from the window he saw the guys of Megan's group, Lucas and Jun, clustered around a table doing their own things. He looked back up to the sky. No sight of Flygon or his rider.

He took a walk around town, searching through the skies and windows. With no luck, he decided to just retreat to the local bowling alley, seeming like the only building with neon lights in this town. And there was Megan, seventh lane rolling a lavender ball down to the pins. Her trooper, Serena, was sitting nearby with a sketchpad.

"Hey," He said as he made his way over, attempting to be heard over techno music and the sound of balls smashing into pins. She looked up from her bowling ball as a robot returned it.

"Hold on." She said, and sized up the pins a further ways down. She was on her third frame. She raced forward and sent the ball flying...right into the gutter. She turned away and gave a scoff. "You're throwing me off my game." She said playfully, walking back up to him.

"I've got a simple question." He said, rocking back and forth to the music beat blaring around the alley.

"Thanks for the warning." She stifled a smile. For a second, he saw her happy, smiling self return. But she left that at the airport.

"What was with that thing earlier?" He asked, referring to the room-assignment situation. "Is it because you think the kids will suspect something? It's a bit too late for that. They're old enough to understand, Megan."

She rolled again, knocking one pin off the side. Her tongue clicked and she came back around. When she went to pick up her bowling ball again, he called her name. She span on her heel, exasperation in her voice.

"We need a break."

You didn't just say that. He wanted to say. But he was silent so she could continue explaining.

She squinted one eye shut so she could focus her aim. "We need to be professional. Plus, we're going to be separated from each other for a long time. To avoid heartbreak and missing each other, I provide the simple solution."

Miss you already. "If that's what you want." He said, staring at the floor. Now he was regretting following her.

"It's what you want too." Her smile lifted a bit. She rolled the ball back down the lane again. A strike. "We did this before, when we were working separately as sentries in Hoenn! It worked out Daniel, calm down. It's not forever. If you love something, it'll come back."

He shook his head, knowing that saying wasn't fitting into their situation. She just wanted to a free card to see other guys while they were apart. But she would miss him. Then she'll see how stupid this was. He thinks.

"I'll see you in a few weeks, then." He nodded, clenched fists hidden behind his back. She nodded and continued her game as the ball returned. Daniel backed away to the table where Serena was drawing. Bowling balls were stored under the table.

He took a glance at her drawing as he passed by.

It was of Megan standing on the only hand saving him from falling off a cliff.

As a city boy, James was deathly afraid of going out in the wild parent-less. He was more confident of surviving when his Dad had a Throh and double-barrel shotgun. To make it worse, he had forgotten his pokéballs in the hotel room, so if he ever got separated from Gerard and Ashka, he was doomed. Gerard's Umbreon was out and leading the three around, looking for a clearing to make camp.

It was a twenty minute walk by now, and James swears he's saw that tree with the spider web before. But when he voiced this to the duo in front of him, they said it was something different. He kept a close eye on Rustboro's buildings behind them like it was the north star. He was sure that if he found the path back to Rustboro, he could make a clean getaway back. That was plan B.

There was a loud rustling nearby, and Gerard's Umbreon stopped and stared at a bush. James bumped into Gerard because it was too dark to see, and none of them brought a flashlight.

Something jumped out and James squealed and hopped onto Gerard's back. Umbreon's glowing tattoos revealed it to be a...

"Oh look, it's the ferocious Skitty of the forest, here to nibble on our insides." Ashka deadpanned, staring at James on Gerard's back. Awkward.

"S-sorry." James apologized and returned back on his two feet. Gerard dismissed it like it never happened and looked upwards, where a hill was located. It looked climbable.

"Let's camp up there." He said, pointing at it. James looked at Gerard as if he had just asked them all to walk up a ninety-degree cliff. Ashka agreed and followed, and Umbreon led the way. James hurried before he lost sight of them.

It took a few tries, but James finally got to the top of the hill where Ashka and Gerard were setting up their sleeping bags. Those two had climbed like experts, treating the unstable ground like escalator steps. James had to crawl because he felt like the earth was tilting just so he'd fall. He ended up slipping and sliding and losing his footing several times.

By the time he set up his sleeping bag in front of the tree a few feet away from Gerard and Ashka, the two had already slipped into their bags and were pointing up at the stars. He decided to do that too, although he found no fascination in the stars as much as they did. He only saw lights in the sky, which Black city often made up for with its high rise buildings. The red lights he saw up there were surprisingly similar.

When the two had went off talking about what they might encounter on the trip, James got bored and told them he was going to go explore the forest. Gerard warned him not to stray far, or he'd be on his own. James just nodded and kept going.

For a while he just stared at some trees, wondering where their wirings were that made them grow like that. He was beginning to miss electronics so much, that the tree in front of him fantasized into a nice little panel. He pressed the bark in places as if it were a phone, and then he stuck his face into the gaping hole in the middle and said, "Hello? Please redirect my call to Mr. President, please."

He walked around some more, but then he tripped over something and ended up face planting into a pile of leafs. He groaned and lifted his face, finding some leafs sticking to his skin. He turned around and felt the ground where he tripped. Some earth was jutting up. He felt around, feeling a holster. His interest piqued.

He slid the item out from under the ground. The item illuminated itself from the neon lights embedded into the barrel. He recognized it instantly from the numerous video games he played from his early childhood, preferably Halo.

It was a plasma gun.

Scoping to be sure no one saw him, he placed the gun next to tree roots and camouflaged it in leafs. He was giddy just from the cool touch of the metal. He wanted to share this discovery with someone who'd actually believe him—Daniel. He started back for the hillside. Ashka and Gerard were sitting up and pointing at the multitude of shooting stars crossing the sky. James stared too, knowing better. He knew that stars didn't bounce back and forth in place.

He was too busy watching that peculiar sight to see the bright beam behind him pulling that plasma gun out from the pile of leafs and into the indefinite sky.

The next morning the lobby was bustling with voices and arguments, namely—Daniel versus his troopers. They had found out from Lucas, who'd been keeping an eye on Megan's twitter, that her group was heading to Verdanturf town. They wanted to go there because Verdanturf was famous for handing out coordinating licenses to pretty much anyone, age regardless. That, and they were more comfortable with traveling with a giant dragon bug then a tiny playful monkey.

"No, we can't go with them! We have our own route to follow, and that's final!" Daniel argued, but his all of his kids (minus Gerard, who was fine with any arrangement) were blabbing nonstop about how it'd be easier to travel as a group of ten then a group of six and four.

The main reason Daniel didn't like this idea was because it meant spending more time with Megan, who clearly didn't want to travel with him "professionally". If he agreed to this plan, then it would be awkwardsville for everyone.

Megan pulled him aside, away from the ridiculous notions of his teens, and he wasn't sure whether to be relieved or not.

"Just come with us." She said. She made it sound like a consolation prize.

"We both have schedules to keep." He argued. "My group has to be in Fallarbor town in two weeks! If we're not there by then, executives get worried, parents get worried, and next thing you know there are channel nine helicopters overhead." And then he added, "Oh, and my pay gets docked."

Her hands rested on her hips. "We'll make it work. The main thing is that they're happy, right? There'll be a contest in Verdanturf in three days, which should be long enough to get there by raft. Then you can cross the forest to Fallarbor."

He gasped, hand drawn to the opposite shoulder. "Go off the map? Are you nuts? I rather go back around to Rustboro than take the red riding hood path. Forget it."

"Come on, look at all of them. You can't separate their bonding now..."

He took her advise and turned his head back to his group, who had blended with Megan's three. They were all whispering amongst each other. He had to admit, seeing them all converse was a sign in the positive direction. Seeing them be friendly to each other on official Day 1 meant that they were already learning how to choose good traveling buddies for the future.

Lexi looked back at the adults. "Heads down," She said again, even though everyone's heads were practically buried into their chests. "Start whispering some more."

"Alright. So you have a nice rack, can I take it for a spin...?" Lucas started, who was across from her.

"Someone slap him. Just. Like. Right now." Gerard muttered, too far to do any bodily harm.

"I'll do it!" Irene volunteered obliviously, just a person away from Lucas. She reached across James and thumped him.

"Hey!" Lucas hissed, still trying to stay in character.

"He asked." Irene shrugged.

"You guys are acting so childish." Ashka grumbled, her back aching from bending football-huddle-style so long. Everyone turned their heads to Megan and Daniel, who had stopped talking. They all broke the circle they made and waited for someone to speak.

"Okay." Daniel sighed and lifted his arms in defeat. "We'll follow Megan for a while."

Enthusiastically speaking, only Irene cheered.

When the conjoined group reached the end of the city's east gate, Lexi and Lucas had noticed a definite change in the atmosphere. Both had paused far from the group who had begun to walk slowly forward. Everyone else had their PokéGears out and were listening to Daniel explain the route they were taking.

"So we're just going to go straight, and it should take about five hours to get to the halfway point, but that's only if we don't stop for breaks, and then maybe we take an hour rest at..." He stopped and looked at Lucas and Lexi, both confusedly looking around a few feet away. "Hey, you two. Something wrong?"

"The air smells...different. Empty." Lexi said, sharing a look with Lucas because he had the same idea.

"It's called fresh air." Daniel deadpanned. The two 'oh'd and returned to the group. He rolled his eyes at their fascination. City kids...

After showing everyone how to mark the map on their PokéGear, he led the group farther down until the ground sunk deep into a wide watery trench that took up the whole pathway. A few feet away, an old sign said 'Route 116'.

"What happened to the route!" Irene panicked, arms flung towards the ground, as if no one else noticed the river out of all the greenery. Before Daniel could automatically respond, James explained with,

"Due to Global Warming and earthquakes, the route has opened and filled with water. I suspect the water is...a hundred feet deep?"

"EAH!" Daniel said, imitating the sound of the 'wrong' buzzer. "It's five feet deep. Really shallow. Hey, can some guys minus James help me blow up the raft? Some ladies can help too, if you've got strong lungs."

"Why don't you just use an electric pump?" Jun, the other one in Megan's group besides Lucas and Serena, asked as if it was the obvious answer.

Daniel gave him a look. "Do you see a socket out here?"

Everyone joined in looking around. So that was a no.

"Right." He continued. He opened the second drawstring bag he was carrying next to his own hiking pack. Megan had one too and pulled out the item inside. It looked like a rubber raisin at this point. The two had spread out the rubber so it would look like a circular-tube object without a hole in the middle. They both showed everyone the uncapped rubber holes that they needed to blow into.

Ashka didn't like the sound of being the second mouth to blow into the tube. "Can't we use flying pokémon instead?" She asked. A lot of the others were agreeing with the suggestion.

Daniel agreed because he didn't want to put his lips on the device either. "Fine. But when you're pokémon-less and need to blow up a raft, you'll realize you don't have the experience to blow it up yourself."

"I would've blown it up back at the hotel." She muttered under her breath, going on unheard.

"Alright, who's got flying pokémon?" Megan asked, looking around expectantly.

"I have a Skarmory!" James volunteered.

"I have a Staravia." Ashka said reluctantly.

"Lucas has a Taillow, and I have a Tropius!" Jun said with a grin, stretching Lucas's non-tweeting arm up to volunteer him. As all the pokémon were called out in bright flashes of light, it turned out that Irene and Serena had a few birds with them too. Soon the deflated rubber rafts were full of air, looking suitable for riding down a river in.

The rafts were large and circular, taking up about most of the river's length. One side seemed to be about seven feet wide. The raft was a yard tall and was striped blue and yellow. It's bottom was wooden and balanced easily when pushed into the water. A ripcord was attached to the two rafts so they would float together.

"Let's separate, Seniors and Juniors." Megan said, getting into the first raft. The seniors, Ashka, James, Lexi, and Gerard, joined Megan in her raft, which was about to be pulled away by the current if it wasn't attached to the docked one. The raft bobbed as they climbed in and set their packs in the middle of the raft. There was plenty of leg room for everyone.

"OH MY GOD!" James exclaimed, eyes wide.

"What?" Lexi looked confused.

"It has cup holders!"

"What more surprises does this raft hold..." Ashka smiled over at Gerard wistfully.

The other raft was inching towards the water. Daniel told Lucas and Jun to get into the raft, and they jumped in, making the rest of the raft fall in. Serena followed in, her professional camera hanging against her neck. Irene was still standing on land, feet planted into the ground.

"Anytime now Irene." Daniel said, clapping a hand on her shoulder.

"...I uh...can't swim." She muttered, head facing the ground.

"Build a bridge and get over it." He said, giving her a gentle shove forward.

"I'm terrified of bridges!" She squealed in horror. Jun and Lucas pulled her in against her will. Daniel hopped in as well, just as the rafts drifted forward, away from the shoreline. It was silent for now, with everyone just watching the scenery past by. Mostly they saw common wild pokémon who didn't give them any second thought. Serena was snapping pictures constantly, but Lucas thought it would be fun to get in her shots and make stupid faces.

Megan started to explain the things around them, her voice loud so the others in Daniel's raft could hear. "This route has a whole bunch of Skitty's and Whismur! The trees that they live in have recently been grown due to deforestation. Oh, looks like we'll be nearing the deeper end soon—"

The raft lurched forward and splash!, water sprayed. When Daniel's followed off the ledge, their splash ended up drenching James.

"My equipment! NO!"

"It'll dry." Megan reassured. "Hey Daniel, we've gotten into the deeper waters. Get Pita out." She looked to the confused teenagers in front of her. "Oh. Well you see, now that we're in deeper waters, there's a good chance that we'll run into pokémon who want to mess with our raft. Plus, from here, the current is ridiculously slow. We'll need a steamboat to pull us forward for the next few hours."

Pita was released from her ball, and she jumped back and forth between rafts.

"We're relying on a two-foot monkey to pull us downstream?" Gerard voiced everyone's doubts.

"It seemed like a good idea with only one raft to pull!" Daniel argued from his raft. To James, this seemed like a good time to save everyone's lives and get some respect. He raised his hand enthusiastically and said,

"I have an idea! I have one!"

"You do now?" Megan leaned back and waited for it.

"I have a Wailord!" He held up an expanded pokéball proudly.

"Oh hell..." Daniel cursed, overhearing the suggestion. "I don't think it'll fit!"

James's face instantly darkened. "Pokémon are not its. My Wailord is a male."

An awkward silence followed.

"So...let's keep moving." Megan said, filling the quiet. "James, we'd love to have your Wailord guiding us. Please bring him out."

In one toss, a gigantic blue whale materialized, causing a great wave to erupt from under him. It towered over all of them, and James was given a harness that was attached to Megan's raft. He expertly climbed his pokémon from the tail and swung one end of the harness down Wailord's side. Daniel's Panpour dove for its end and brought it up the other side, and climbed Wailord's slippery hide back up to James. James clipped the two ends of the harness together and tightened it.

"You can move now, Gret-tear. Pull us gently."

Even one slight movement jerked the rafts across, and everyone cheered as they moved forward. Despite Wailord's tail moving slow, they were going at least seventy miles an hour in the water. James stood at his Wailord's head proudly, soaking up all the cheers from his trip-mates. He had done something right.

But just as he did the 'Top of the World' pose, he slipped and fell of Wailord's back. As he resurfaced, Gerard and Ashka pulled him back into the raft and patted his back regardless of its dampness. James grinned despite having just embarrassed himself in front of everyone. He would've done another belly flop if it meant winning everyone's praises.

The sun was blazing at a ninety degree angle, and that must've meant that it was noon. After Pita found a clearing nearby, the rafts were pulled onto land and Gret-tear was returned into his pokéball. Daniel and Megan let everyone explore while they set up lunch. The only catch was that they had to go in groups, so that led everyone but Serena to go explore. Instead, Serena decided on sketching the numerous pictures she took on her camera.

"How far are we?" Megan asked as she released Flygon from his pokéball. In its hands was a foldable table. It was cheating to make the pokémon carry it in its pokéball, but how else would they carry it?

"We've gone almost two hundred miles." Daniel said, reading his Styler, which had a built in odometer.

"That's great!" Megan said, unfolding the table. "We've shaved off a lot of time that it would've taken to get to the half-way point. We might even get there before nightfall now."

"Good." Daniel nodded. He wanted to talk about something else. He wanted to talk about the two of them, and how they should get together again. He didn't like the awkward silence that they had endured on that raft ride. They had sat on polar opposites of each other, as if to sit the farthest so they wouldn't have to converse.

While the two were fixing lunch, James had broken off from Gerard, Ashka, and Lexi to sit on a log. He was still mad that he forgot about that plasma gun he had found in the woods last night. He hoped that no one else had found it and reported it to the science community. He wanted to be the one to be disproved as just a fancy new water gun.

A light shot out of the sky a few yards away, and curiously he dashed to where the beam was. And there he saw it. Right in the middle of the forest floor.

The plasma gun.

Just like last night, he hid it within some leafs. But this time he had someone he could report it to. Quickly, he ran back to the river's edge where Daniel and Megan were setting up lunch.

Almost a few seconds later, Gerard passed by the same spot, but he wasn't searching for the same thing James was. He, Ashka, and Lexi were playing a game (or as their mature selves would call, a "mission") to find the rarest berry, and right now he had only found a Cheri berry which had rotten far beyond its expiration date.

He stepped over a pile of leafs and lifted his foot when he felt something hard crunch under his shoes. He kicked some leafs aside and stared at the glowing item.

It was a sleek-looking ray gun, with four neon rods in the center and a baby bottle top nose. He picked it up by the rough holster, finding it a little less then light. The trigger was locked so some idiot wouldn't fire it in his pants on accident.

Curiously, he unlocked the trigger and fired at the ground. The rods around the gun lit up even more so than they were before. A blue orb formed at the tip of the barrel, and then WOWM!

An orb the size of a pilates ball shot into the ground, causing the whole earth to rumble. An explosion pushed Gerard into a tree, and once the smoke subsided, a gaping crater was all that was left of the ground. Gerard whistled and stared at the gun.

With a quick look to make sure no one was around, he locked the trigger and slipped it deep into his hiking pack.

He walked away slyly, as if he was never there.

Seconds later James returned with Daniel in tow.

"It's here! Right here! This weird Nerf gun is over here!"

James fell into the crater face-first. Daniel stood at the edge and peered down.

"I'm not seeing anything but dirt here." Daniel said as James wiped the dirt from his face. James looked around in disbelief and started overturning dirt, wondering if the gun had some sort of cloaking device to it.

"But—but it was right here! I saw it!"

"I think all this fresh air and lack of electronics has gone to your head." Daniel said, turning around. "Come on, let's go eat."

James followed reluctantly after stepping out of the crater. He shook his head in disbelief. If the gun wasn't enough proof, the crater was.

There was an alien device somewhere on Route 116.

Yes. Everything is going according to plan...Muhahaha. I'm surprised how lengthy I'm making these chapters, though. I hope you guys don't mind :P Just say the word, I'll start cutting it in half.

Also, if you're having trouble remembering characters, tell me okay? I have to look at a seperate document with them all listed myself...-.- Thanks for reading the chapter!